Fullers XX(K)

It's the main reason I've been in London so often this year. First to discuss, then to brew, a beer from 1891 called XXK. I can now tell everyone I've brewed at Fullers. Yes, I made the mouse click that kicked the whole process off. It made me feel ridiculously happy. Easily pleased, that's me.

John Keeling and Derek Prentice, the people in charge of brewing at Fullers weren't going to do it half-arsed. I doubt John has ever done anything half-arsed in his life. They were keen to replicate as closely as possible the original recipe.And I was only too happy to give whatever help I could.

You're never going to be able to create an exact copy of a beer from the past. Malt and hops are agricultural and not chemical products. They vary from one year to the next, let alone across centuries. Hops are easier to match than malts. Fuggle's and Goldings are still around. Barley varieties change with much greater frequency. Even something like Maris Otter is a fairly recent development.

Luckily, Fullers were able to get hold of some Plumage Archer barley, which they then had malted by Simpson's. The variety dates from 1903. Which is about as close as you're going to get. It was malted in drum maltings, which were being used in 1891.

Fullers brewery has changed a fair bit since 1891. As we discovered on brew day. Back then they' performed what I'd call an underlet mash. That's where half an hour or so in hot water is added from below, raising the temperature. Usually the internal rakes would be used to mix it through the mash. Fullers current mash tuns have no rakes. There was a fair amount of manual fiddling about - including pushing the sparge arm around with a stick - to replicate the original process.

What type of beer is it? I'd call it a Burton. A style that re-invented itself as a dark beer in the 20th century. Old Ale. You could call it that as well, if Burton doesn't appear your style lexicon. Or Strong Ale. The English have always been a bit vague - not to say downright inconsistent - in the naming of stronger beers.

The scary part came on Monday. At the release event. When I had to stand up and explain XX in 5 minutes without heistation, deviation or repetition. As I got to my feet I sent a glass smashing to the floor. At least it got the attention of the various hacks and freeloaders, sorry, invited guests. I hope I didn't confuse them too much with my tale of Pale Mild, Burton and the code of X's.

I like the beer. Pretty colour and lots of flavour. Not bursting with passion fruit or any of that bollocks. My days of writing detailed beer descriptions are over. Why should you trust what I say? Go and try it for yourself.

Awesome, Ron! I just received my First Draught this week and saw the description. I was really excited to see it. I hope we get some of it here in the US. I agree re John. I interviewed him in person at the Fullers' Brewery late last year for an internet radio show here in the States. I can't imagine him doing anything half-arsed either.Cheers!Neil

I have a growing suspicion, with no real and actual evidence to back it up, that London brewers started calling their own strong ales "Burton ale" in the latter part of the 19th century to cash in on the popularity of genuine Burton Ale from the likes of Bass, Allsopp, Worthington and Salt, just the same way that brewers started calling (or seem to have started calling) any bitter of about 1060-1065 OG "IPA" to cash in on the popularity of Burton IPAs. Any evidence in the brewing logs to show if "London" ale was different from the brews sold as "Burton" ale?

I'm also with Korev - the recipe would be very interesting to have a go at - there's bugger all chance of finding a bottle in the few Fullers pubs up this way, so brewing it myself is likely to be the closest I'll get...